Peter Guralnick

Peter Guralnick (born December 15, 1943, in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American music critic, author and screenwriter. He specializes in the history of early rock'n'roll and has written prominent works on Elvis Presley, Sam Phillips, and Sam Cooke.

Career

Guralnick graduated from Boston University in 1971 with a master's degree in creative writing. He then began writing books about the history of rock'n'roll, blues, country music, and soul music.

Guralnick's first two books, Almost Grown (1964) and Mister Downchild (1967), were collections of short stories published by the Larry Stark Press, a small press in Cambridge, Massachusetts, devoted to stories and poems. Mona Dickson, writing in MIT's The Tech (May 13, 1964) gave Almost Grown a favorable review.^[1]

His two-volume biography of Elvis Presley, Last Train to Memphis in 1994, followed by Careless Love in 1999, placed the story of Presley's career into a rise and fall arc. Encompassing more than 1,300 pages (including 1,150 pages of text), the work was preceded by Presley's first biography by Jerry Hopkins in two important volumes, Elvis in 1971 and Elvis: The Final Years in 1980 and countered earlier biographies such as Albert Goldman's Elvis from 1981, with an in-depth, scholarly examination of Presley's life and music. Guralnick previously wrote about Presley in the The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll, in its first edition, in 1976; his article has been reprinted in each subsequent edition. He also contributed the complete text for the 240-page hardcover book accompanying the 2010 30-disc CD boxed set, The Complete Elvis Presley Masters.

Larry Stark Press published Guralnick's second book in 1967. A first edition is currently valued at $200.

In contrast to contemporaries such as Lester Bangs, Ian Penman and Nick Tosches, whose music writings are marked by idiosyncratic, self-referential and highly personal styles, Guralnick's writing is characterized by a colloquial approach that is clean and understated by comparison. He has been called "the dean of rock ‘n’ roll storytellers".^[2]

Guralnick wrote the 727-page biography of influential record producer Sam Phillips entitled Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock 'n' Roll. He also penned the script for A&E's documentary of the same name, narrated by Billy Bob Thornton. On October 21, 2016, it was announced that Leonardo DiCaprio will portray Sam Phillips in the forthcoming film based on Guralnick's book.^[3] Guralnick scripted Sam Cooke – Legend,^[4] narrated by Jeffrey Wright.

He has written liner notes for albums including Charlie Rich's last album Pictures and Paintings and the last three Jerry Lee Lewis albums Last Man Standing, Mean Old Man and Rock and Roll Time.

Personal life

In 1971, he succeeded his grandfather as director of an athletic camp for boys, Camp Alton. It was located on Lake Winnipesaukee in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. The camp closed in 1992. He has been married for over 45 years to Alexandra. He has a son and daughter, Jacob and Nina.

Books

• Peter Guralnick (1964). Almost Grown. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Larry Stark Press.
• Peter Guralnick (1967). Mister Downchild. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Larry Stark Press.
• Peter Guralnick (1971). Feel Like Going Home: Portraits in Blues, Country, and Rock 'n' Roll. ISBN 0-87690-046-5. Reprinted 1999. ISBN 0-316-33272-0
• Peter Guralnick (1979). Lost Highway: Journeys & Arrivals of American Musicians. ISBN 0-316-33274-7.
• Peter Guralnick (1982). The Listener's Guide to The Blues. New York: Facts on File.
• Peter Guralnick (1986). Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom. ISBN 0-316-33273-9.
• Peter Guralnick (1988). Nighthawk Blues: A Novel. Thunder's Mouth Press. ISBN 0-938-41064-4.
• Peter Guralnick (1989). Searching for Robert Johnson. ISBN 0-452-27949-6.
• Peter Guralnick (1994). Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley. ISBN 0-316-33225-9.
• Peter Guralnick (1999). Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley. ISBN 0-316-33297-6.
• Peter Guralnick and Ernst Jorgensen (1999). Elvis Day by Day: The Definitive Record of His Life and Music. ISBN 0-345-42089-6.
• Peter Guralnick (2005). Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke. Little, Brown. ISBN 0-316-37794-5.
• Peter Guralnick (2015). Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock'n'Roll. Little, Brown.

Interviews

• "An Interview with Peter Guralnick" by Griffin Ondaatje and Craig Proctor, Brick: A Literary Journal, Issue 62, Spring 1999.
• "Caught in a Trap" at the Wayback Machine (archived May 28, 2001). Peter S. Sholtes interviews Peter Guralnick. City Pages Media, January 13, 1999. Archived from the original, 2001-05-26.
• Music Historian Peter Guralnick — Serious Jibber Jabber with Conan O'Brien (May'13?) discuss PG's 1994 book Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley

References

1. "Stark second edition out" (PDF). Tech.mit.edu. Retrieved 2012-12-08.
2. Greenblatt, Mike (January 27, 2016). "Rant'n'Roll: One Great Read". The Aquarian Weekly. Arts Weekly Inc. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
3. "Leonardo DiCaprio To Play Music Pioneer Sam Phillips; Launched Elvis, Howlin' Wolf, Johnny Cash & Jerry Lee Lewis". DEADLINE.
4. Archived February 24, 2016, at the Wayback Machine.

External links

• For Guralnick, birthday bash starts the Elvis bandwagon rolling By Clarissa Sansone, March 2002. Country Standard Time. Guralnick at SXSW.
• Authors: Peter Guralnick at the Wayback Machine (archived February 12, 2002). Time Warner Bookmark. Archived from the original 2002-02-12.
• "Elvis Presley: Baby What You Want Me To Do". By Robert Baird, May 2000. Stereophile (magazine).
• Camp Alton - Official website
• Peter Guralnick Collection, Southern Folklife Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill